


That Boy is a Grinch

by Diaryofanarcissisticgayman



Series: Things That Go Bump In The Night [3]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: All that good nerdy stuff, And a little bit of angst, Faeries - Freeform, Fluff, Lycans, M/M, Magic, Mostly fluff though, This Series Needs Fluff, Vampires
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-21
Updated: 2016-12-21
Packaged: 2018-09-10 20:40:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8938297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Diaryofanarcissisticgayman/pseuds/Diaryofanarcissisticgayman
Summary: Winter may bring a sense of wonder in the surface world, but, in Home, it's a different story. Niall decides to fix that.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This one takes place in the middle of Gold Rush, a few months after the beginning. Before the rings, and after Luke has become the acting regent of New Sanctum.

Harry started getting anxious and irritable in the days leading up to it, so Niall really should have seen it coming when he wakes up to find the bed completely empty. It wouldn’t take Niall long to find Harry, even without the pull in his chest signaling his mate’s location, because he’s curled up on the balcony attached to the room. Only, when Niall steps out to find him, he’s greeted by Harry’s wolf form instead.

“Oh, love.” Niall sighs, sitting down next to Harry’s front half and curling into the warmth of his fur. “What’s wrong, fuzzy?”

Harry huffs out a sigh and makes no move to acknowledge Niall’s presence or words, not that he can in this form. Their bond allows for many things, but they still can’t read each other’s minds unless it’s at the moment of re-bonding. Even then, they can’t pick out specific thoughts. It’s just a flash of things.

“Why is the city dark?” Niall asks, hoping to prompt Harry into turning back to his human form so he can get some answers. “Pretty sure it’s morning.”

“You’re not going to get an answer out of him, sunshine.” Niall hears a familiar voice drawl behind him. Or- Well- Above him, and behind him.

“You’re back.” Niall hums, turning his head to look up at where Louis has stuck himself to the side of the castle above their room’s door.

“Had to, once I saw it was snowing.” Louis says with a shrug. “Final Bastion is- It’s different in winter.”

“Home.” Niall corrects him, turning a pebble to gold and flinging it at Louis because he knows the vampire only calls it Final Bastion still to annoy him. It catches Louis on the forehead and makes him lose his grip on the stones, causing him to fall and nearly crash until Niall sends the golden sand he keeps hidden in the crevices of the terrace to catch him. “Different how?”

“Well, I don’t see why I should tell you now.” Louis huffs, glaring at Niall. “If you’re going to be such a great bloody cunt about it.”

“You remember that I can port you into the middle of the Pacific Ocean, right?” Niall asks flatly, arching a brow. “Or the outback?”

“If you’d finish that prototype, then I wouldn’t have to worry.” Louis grumbles, regaining his feet and stepping onto the terrace. “But since you still have that whole ‘sun’ threat, I guess I can talk.”

“Excellent choice.” Niall says with a roll of his eyes, petting Harry’s head when the wolf shifts and lays it in his lap.

“As you already pointed out, it’s dark, but it’s daytime.” Louis says, leaning back to sit on the balustrade. “Welcome to the next four months in Final- In Home. The barrier can see through the ground, but- Whatever magic it works, it can’t see through the snow. So, until winter is done, there’s no natural light here. Not only that, but it cuts us - the lycans, I mean - off from the moon.

“Lycans may not be dependent on it, like werewolves, but it is a source of energy and healing for them. In winter, regeneration doesn’t work as quickly for lycans. Their senses are dulled. Their strength is muted. Overall, as long as lycans are cut off from the moon, their powers decrease by at least a quarter, if not more. This snow- It means that they’re about to spend the next few months feeling like they’re slowly dying. Like they’re cut off from a piece of themselves. Like-”

“Like a broken bond.” Niall finishes for him, leaning forward to place a kiss to the spot between Harry’s eyes.

“Exactly.” Louis nods. “But that’s not all it is. Home sits over a pocket of magma. It’s what keeps the city warm. But it’s not enough. Not in winter. The cold sinks in and smothers everything. Living underground affords the residents certain protections, but it also has certain consequences. The whole city will be in the negatives for the next few months, forcing lycans to stay shifted, or to don more layers, which feels confining to a race that spends most of their lives in as few clothes as possible. It’s not natural for them.”

“I can see how that would be problematic.” Niall sighs.

“There’s one more thing.” Louis adds. “This one is specific to your mate, though. He-”

Harry cuts Louis off with a low, rumbling growl and a sense of irritation that floods into Niall stronger than anything. In a sense, it’s a relief, because it’s not as bad as the melancholy that he’s been passing into Niall. But it’s also really hard to keep their feelings separate when Harry’s mood changes so bloody fast.

“Alright!” Louis hisses, throwing his hands up in surrender. “I was just trying to save you the trouble of shifting twice to have to tell him before you go back to moping.”

The shift is quick, Harry’s body compressing from the size of a horse down to his normal, gangly self in a matter of seconds before he’s staggering nakedly to his feet and barely waiting for his face to resume its normal shape before he’s slurring out, “Go fuck yourself, Louis.”

“You sound more like Sunshine by the day.” Louis snorts, shaking his head. “I guess that’s my cue to go find Liam before I have to get back to my job. Take care of yourself, Harry. Sunshine.”

He kicks his feet against the floor, pushing himself backwards off of the balcony, and then Niall can just barely make out his mist form racing around the corner of the palace.

“Gonna tell me what’s up with you, then?” Niall asks gently when Harry crawls back down and lays his head in Niall’s lap once more.

“My mother and sister both died on the winter solstice.” Harry mumbles into Niall’s stomach, his heart clenching with a pang of grief that echoes into Niall. “Zayn and Louis both died in winter. I killed my father in winter. Edward died in winter. And- And I know that he’s gone, but-”

“But you’re scared that you’re going to lose me, now that you have something for winter to claim again.” Niall says quietly.

“I know that I won’t.” Harry mutters. “Nothing left on Earth could kill you, and you won’t age out for centuries. But- But I almost lost you so many times that I’ve lost count, and all of that is coming back, now.”

“I’m not going anywhere, fuzzy.” Niall promises, threading his fingers into Harry’s hair and scratching along his scalp. “It’s going to take more than snow to take me away from you.”

 

Niall starts feeling it after Louis’ explanation. All it takes is a brief dusting of snow on the surface of the world, and a city is cloaked in darkness beneath it. The cressets across Home are lit, giving the city a nice, warm glow, but it’s like everything falls dead. The lycans seem to have lost all of their vitality overnight.

That, in and of itself, would be problematic enough. The city has gone and turned itself into a mausoleum, but Niall’s bigger problem is Harry. He knows by now, after the last few months of running this city, that morale is important. The people are led by their king, and while Niall isn’t affected by the snowfall, Harry is another story.

So Niall has decided to take on the primary role of public king, for the time being. Harry hasn’t changed back from his lupine form since shortly after their talk two days ago, so Niall is the one making public appearances in the city, for the time being. Unfortunately, Niall hasn’t actually explored much of the city in the time he’s lived here, and he’s terribly lost. But he can’t admit that he’s lost, because that’s not very inspiring.

“Do you even have instincts?” sighs a familiar voice that makes Niall relax.

“Ash!” Niall beams. “What are you doing here?”

“I was putting in the weekly report on New Sanctum, and Harry shifted back long enough to tell me that you were stressed out and confused, and to ask if I could come find you.” Ashton explains, stepping forward from the alley where he’s leaning against a wall. “Took a while to smell you out.”

“So it’s working already?” Niall questions. “I didn’t think it would be so fast. Especially when you don’t even live here.”

“It’s because you smell like a bunch of different lycans.” Ashton says with a roll of his eyes. “Can barely pick out your flowery scent through all the fur you’ve got clinging to you.”

“People’s winter coats are growing in.” Niall says with a shrug, looking down at his clothes. “Everyone keeps apologizing for it, but it’s not that big of a deal.”

“It’s considered impolite to shed on someone.” Ashton snorts. “Especially when you get your fur on a king. And especially, especially when that king is you. Let’s get you back to the castle and cleaned up before King Harry smells that on you.”

“Not yet.” Niall says, shaking his head. “I’m looking for something.”

“What are you looking for?” Ashton sighs wearily.

“Louis said that the city is heated by a magma pocket.” Niall explains. “But he didn’t explain how anybody knows that, since there’s not exactly a giant pool of lava laying around.”

“Ah.” Ashton nods. “You’re looking for the doom pit.”

“Well, that’s not ominous sounding at all.” Niall scoffs.

“Come on.” Ashton says, tilting his head. “I know where it is. I used to be a real snoop. It’s not too far from the coliseum.”

 

“How in the hell did you ever find this place?” Niall asks, looking around the room that they’ve finally arrived in after what felt like an eternity of wandering through a set of labyrinthine halls buried under the lowest level of the city.

“A lot of dedication.” Ashton hums. “And I hated not knowing things, so when this place kept trying to keep me out, I had to figure out why. Took me months to figure out the way through the maze, but I don’t think I could forget the way now if I tried.”

“Thank god, because I would not have found my way through that on my own. And I don’t think knocking down walls to get to it would be the best idea in these catacombs.”

“Probably not.” Ash chuckles. “But, now that you know where it is, you can just port here, right?”

“Yeah.” Niall nods. “Again, it’s great. I could never even do those ‘go from start to finish through the maze’ things on placemats.”

“No sense of direction or wayfinding instincts.” Ashton snorts, ruffling Niall’s fringe before heading towards the giant pit of magma in the center of the room. “This is the mighty king who felled the Master and saved the world from the vampire scourge. The most powerful being on Earth- A fae, who can control gold and luck itself. A being connected to the very natural forces that-”

“I get it!” Niall groans, following after him. “The reality doesn’t live up to the legend of Niall, the Hero King of Final Bastion.”

“It’s called Home now, actually.” Ashton smirks. “And I was there, so I know the reality lives up to the legend. I know that you’re capable of doing things that defy the imagination. But you’re also kind of unimpressive in some ways. All it takes to put you out of commission is a spilled salt shaker, and you couldn’t find your way out of an empty room with four walls and four doors.”

“I could toss you in that magma.” Niall grumbles.

“That wouldn’t change a thing about your weaknesses.” Ashton shrugs. “And I’ve taken to carrying one of these around in case you ever go into fae-beast mode or something.”

He produces a packet of sugar from his pocket, grinning smugly.

“You know that doesn’t work on that form, right?” Niall asks with a roll of his eyes. “Its mind is too chaotic to be bound by that weakness. The only things that can stop it are ripping my wings off, and iron. And only large quantities at that. Things like Harry’s ring would just piss it off.”

“Have you had any issues with it?” Ashton asks.

“I- I’m still getting used to having it in there.” Niall admits. “Harry helps. Our bond- It suppresses that thing. But I’m still trying to adjust from just being myself, to being three separate entities in the same body. There’s still me, but there’s Harry and the beast too. And it gets more insistent on being let loose when my emotions run high. But Harry and Liam used to be each other’s anchors, so he’s used to suppressing negative emotion in someone else.”

“But he’s not used to having something untamable and monstrous inside of him.” Ashton says quietly. “That’s us. That’s something only we have.”

“Yeah, well- It’s not much of a problem at the moment.” Niall mumbles. “I’m much more concerned with bringing Home back to life, and this, right here, is the key to it. I don’t know why or how, but I know that it is.”

“It’s a pit of magma, Niall.” Ashton snorts. “When has that ever helped bring anything to life? Pretty sure it usually does the opposite.”

“Not this time.” Niall mutters, his eyes locked on the walls built up hip-high around the pit. There’s strange markings carved into the stone, but they’ll have to wait.

Niall feels a pang of loneliness hit him from Harry through the bond, and he doesn’t hesitate to open up a portal.

 

“I heard you’d become obsessed with this place.” a soft voice says from behind Niall.

“I’m not obsessed.” Niall huffs, rolling his eyes but never actually looking back. “What do you need, Liam? My docket is clear today.”

“I don’t ‘need’ anything.” Liam says, stepping up beside Niall. “However, I am concerned about the time you’ve apparently been spending down here next to a big puddle of lava. I know it’s gotten colder since the snow started falling, but the palace is still plenty warm, Niall.”

“I’m not doing it to stay warm, Liam.” Niall snorts. “I could just go lay on top of my giant, furry wolf of a mate if I wanted to stay warm. I’m here because my mate won’t stop being a wolf. He’s got a pretty decent face, and a cute bum, and I miss them both.”

“I meant to warn you about what was coming.” Liam sighs, sitting on the ground next to Niall. “But everything has been so busy that – I just forgot that you hadn’t always been here. I forgot that there are still things about all of this that you don’t know yet.”

“Every time I think I have things figured out, something new pops up.” Niall says quietly, tracing over the marks in front of him with a finger.

“You should have it all figured out eventually.” Liam chuckles. “In a decade or so, probably.”

“Hopefully.” Niall nods. “But I need to figure these out sooner. I’ve been searching for a pattern in here, but I can’t find anything. These carvings seem completely random. And, because I can’t find any pattern, I can’t fucking match them to any language I can find in any book in the library.”

“Niall-” Liam says gently. “They’re runes. You’re not going to find them in the library.”

“Wait- You know what they are?” Niall asks, eyes snapping over to the vampire next to him. “Do you know what they say?”

“Of course not.” Liam scoffs. “Nobody in this city has ever been able to read them.”

“Well, fuck.” Niall sighs.

“Until you.” Liam adds. “Niall- Runes are the language of the fae.”

 

“Where were you?” Harry asks, launching himself forward and colliding with Niall before the fae even has his bearings when he steps out of the portal. 

Niall flops back onto the floor behind him, unable to cope with the force Harry collides into him with. As soon as Niall knows they’re not going to stay on their feet, he wraps his arms around Harry and protects him from the brunt of the fall.

“I was in Sídhe, fuzzy.” Niall murmurs once he catches his breath.

“You are not allowed to leave the dimension without telling me first.” Harry mutters, burying his face in Niall’s neck.

“I was literally gone for like- Five minutes, your time.” Niall points out.

“But I didn’t know where you were.” Harry mumbles into Niall’s skin. “Suddenly, I just couldn’t feel you anywhere, and I- I thought something had happened to you. Like you went and tripped into the doom pit or something.”

“We have got to come up with a better name for that.” Niall sighs. “I’m glad that you’re in human form, though.”

“Why?” Harry questions.

“Because I have something to show you, and I really don’t like the idea of you being all furry around the doom pit.” Niall hums.

 

“What did you want to show me?” Harry asks, eyeing the magma cautiously.

“So, I went to Sídhe.” Niall starts. “Before I left, I wrote down this chicken scratch. The runes. So I get there, and I start talking to Keth, and I ask him to translate, right? Only, when he does, it still doesn’t make any sense. It’s literally gibberish. Words that don’t go together, and nonsense syllables thrown in, and words mashed together. It’s a fucking mess that doesn’t mean anything at all.”

“So you scared me like that for nothing?” Harry huffs, crossing his arms over his chest.

“I’m not done.” Niall tells him, wagging his finger. “Bad dog. Don’t interrupt.”

“Don’t call me that.” Harry mutters, narrowing his eyes. If he was still in his lupine form, Niall is positive he’d have nipped at him.

“Anyways.” Niall says with a roll of his eyes. “It turns out that runes aren’t meant to be read like this. They’re a secret language for the fae only. The way they are, even if a human or a vampire or something managed to translate the runes, they wouldn’t be able to read them.”

“Then how do you read them?” Harry questions when Niall waves for him to ask the obvious question.

“Like this.” Niall grins, touching the tip of his finger to a circle inscribed in the runes. 

Before, Niall had no point of reference, but now he does. The circle is the start and finish of the string of runes that map out the spell Niall has been looking for. He pushes out a pulse of his magic inside the tiny barrier it creates. 

Only, instead of turning the stones to gold, it makes light race out from one side. The light follows the string of runes, rearranging them into characters that actually mean something. Characters that Niall can read, even though he’s never seen them before in his life. He can see the magic running through them, activating, and he feels the shift in the air.

The light in the runes races around the entire loop of wall until it connects back with the circle. It doesn’t stop there, though. Once it reaches the end, light shoots up from the circle and connects to another circle on the ceiling. Runes spider-web out from there across the entire domed ceiling, racing down to the floor and out of the entrance.

“What- Where are they going?” Harry asks worriedly, stepping towards where the runes are heading.

“This city was built by fae and witches.” Niall explains, linking his hand with Harry’s and then opening a portal to their balcony. Harry clings tight to him as they watch the light of the runes spread throughout the city from above, and Niall continues with, “It was built for them. When they left, there was nobody left to maintain the magic that runs this place. The barrier - the ‘doom pit’ - all of it has a function.”

“And what is that?” Harry questions, turning to look at Niall.

“Well, the doom pit is a power plant, essentially.” Niall tells him. “It’s meant to keep the city cool in summer, and warm in winter. The runes- They primarily manage heat magic. They absorb heat when it’s too hot, and expel it when it’s too cold. A byproduct of that magic is light. The runes are also meant to light the city, and they mimic the properties of moonlight.”

“Then- Our power-” Harry breathes out.

“It’ll return in the next few days. Give it a chance to get back up to full power, first.” Niall says with a soft smile.

“You said the barrier serves a purpose too.” Harry says, drawing his eyebrows together.

“You, fuzzy, have got perfect timing.” Niall grins. “Close your eyes, and stick out your tongue.”

“Why?” Harry asks, though he obeys anyways. Niall counts down on his fingers- Three, two, one- And then Harry gasps in surprise as the snowflake hits his tongue. His eyes snap open, and he reaches up to touch at where another lands on his cheek before asking, “Is- Is that- Is that snow?”

“The barrier is meant to control the climate within the city and mimic the weather on the surface.” Niall hums, taking Harry by the hand and turning him to look at the city and see the snow beginning to sprinkle down on it. “It’ll make rain, wind and snow. Bits and pieces of the old system were still active, letting air flow through the barrier so that the whole populace didn’t suffocate, and keeping the magma pocket from cooling, even though it’s exposed. But it needed one of the fae to activate its power to function fully. I’m going to have to work it out some more and spend some time reading in order to figure out how to fully control it at will, but I hope this is good enough for now.”

“You are a miracle.” Harry whispers, pulling Niall into his side and pressing a kiss to his temple.

“That’s not everything, though.” Niall says quietly. “There’s something I’ve been thinking about since that morning of the first snowfall.”

“Oh?” Harry asks.

“I- I know that nothing can ever replace your mother or your sister or Edward.” Niall mumbles. “I do know that. But- I was thinking- Whenever you’re ready-”

“Niall- Do you mean- You want to have pups?” Harry asks slowly, cautiously.

“Not like- Right away.” Niall mutters, kicking the toe of his boot against the stone balustrade. “But I thought- Maybe we could stop being, like- Careful about it? Just let it happen?”

“I thought you never wanted to try again, after-” Harry says, trailing off after a twin throb of grief runs through them and they curl into each other just a bit tighter.

“I didn’t.” Niall says breathlessly, tucking his head under Harry’s chin. “Scares the piss out of me, honestly. But- We’re safe now, and I think I’d like a family of our own. I think I’d quite like putting a baby in you, honestly.”

“We could go try right now.” Harry hums.

“Not yet.” Niall chuckles, casting his eyes out on the city and the snow falling from the barrier. “Right now, I just want to watch Home start feeling like Home again, and feel you feeling like you again.”


End file.
